Jamaica star Omari Caro would like to see international matches at end of year
Omari Caro in action for London Skolars (photo courtesy of London Skolars)
Jamaica star Omari Caro says he would like there to be some internationals played at the end of the year despite the World Cup being postponed.
The Reggae Warriors were due to compete in their first World Cup this autumn – but it was announced last week that the tournament would be postponed until 2022 after Australia and New Zealand pulled out of participating, citing safety fears due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Caro – who has won six caps for Jamaica since making his international debut in 2011 – revealed he is sad to see that the World Cup won’t be going ahead this year.
He told Love Rugby League: “There is a sense of disappointment among the whole camp.
“A lot of boys have been waiting for this tournament and doing everything they can to be in the best possible position to play in front of their family and friends.
“On behalf of the Jamaican set-up, everyone involved was working towards our first World Cup and it would have been a brilliant experience for us, our friends and families and the fans so it is real disappointment (that it won’t be going ahead this year).”
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Caro says he would love for there to be some international matches arranged for this autumn so they can build some momentum going into next year’s tournament.
He added: “We qualified for the World Cup in 2018 and we’ve only played one game since so the more games we can play together, the better.
“Hopefully something can be arranged with the home nations or a Select XIII just to get the boys some game time. I’m guessing a lot of the home nations will have very similar thoughts. It would be good for prep and mindset. We may as well use this time wisely.
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“It would make perfect sense to get some friendlies in and get some game time this year. I think every nation would gain something from it. From a Jamaican perspective, to be able to pull the shirt on and build some momentum going into next year’s World Cup would be good.”